The Echo Hotel
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: The Echo Hotel is known for its lovely hospitality. But there is one thing it's also known for, and it's the entire staff of the Echo Hotel. They're friendly. Perhaps too friendly.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: I don't own The Last Story nor do I own anything else that inspired this into being.**

 **I have no idea how this idea got into my head. Maybe because it's Halloween? Maybe I'm reading too many American Horror Story: Hotel recaps (because I'm too scared to watch the actual show). Maybe I've watched one-too-many horror game playthroughs. Considering horror-types of things aren't something I generally write, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping this turns out well! XD**

 **Warning: Blood and gore (not too graphically described yet, but we'll see), swearing, violence, more warnings to be added, AU...**

 **Constructive Criticism would be great and I hope that you read, review and enjoy! XD**

* * *

 _The Echo Hotel_

* * *

Mirania couldn't help but hum a tune as she cleaned up a guest room. It helped to be a nice distraction from all the blood on the ground.

There was a body, too. She should really get some more help. But she'd been ordered to just get all the bedsheets, blankets and pillows for now. The rest of the cleaning would come later.

Folding them up as neatly as she could, she smiled despite the smell of iron all around her. It would be fine. Air freshners helped. Oh, and maybe a little spritz of perfume to add in to that, too. She liked keeping things spick and span, all nice and neat. She could clean up any mess in a jiffy.

That was when she heard a loud thump from outside. She gasped, gathering up the rest of the bedsheets in her arms (she already removed the pillows earlier) and she rushed outside.

She was greeted with the sight of a man, struggling to stand. His wavy, blond hair was stained with blood, and so were his clothes. Several cuts all over his body oozed with blood, and he whimpered, nearly lunging towards her as he managed to cling onto her arm.

"P-please, help me.." He shakily looked behind him. "There is a-a-a _monster_ in my room, i-it attacked me, I..."

"Oh dear." Mirania's eyes went wide. She instinctively wrapped the sheets about him _(it would be bad if he got too much blood on the carpet)_ as she gazed into one eye (the other one, it appeared, was severely damaged). "Sir, I understand your distress...please, let me get you some help."

 _"You will?"_ His voice came out in a shaky whisper. "Th-thank..you..please hurry..."

He looked so pale...and all that blood. That wouldn't do. Mirania couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Yes, sir." She responded, gripping the sheets about him a little tighter. "Let me help you."

In one single motion, she _pushed_ him straight into the large, laundry cart, the one used for collecting all the bloodied sheets. A small, wordless shout of protest escaped him as he fell into the bin, a pained groan escaping him.

"Wh-what are—" He tried to climb out of the cart, but he was too weak and any movement he made made him sink further into the sheets. _"What—"_

She pulled him up, but not to take him out of the large laundry bin.

Instead, she took out a small vial, forcing his mouth open and pouring its contents down his throat. He choked and sputtered, but some of it made its way past his lips, and she let go of him. He coughed—once, twice, thrice, and he collapsed into the bin, a weak little moan escaping him one more time.

Mirania looked down at him softly, a gentle smile on her face, the one she always used for her guests.

"Sir," She spoke, keeping her voice calm and gentle. After all, it was always her duty to maintain such a calm composure. "I'm taking you to get...help, as you requested. Please, feel free to rest. But don't scream please. It would disturb the other guests in the building."

Her demand was met too easily—he was already unconscious by the time she finished speaking.

Smiling a little bit, Mirania went into the room she'd been clearing out, grabbed the blanket, and then came back out, laying it on top of the unconscious, older man so others wouldn't see. Protocol was that if anyone ended up in the laundry bin, she had to make sure no one got a peek of them in there until she transported them to...

"Another one?"

Mirania blinked out of her thoughts, looking up to see a man about her age, maybe a little younger. He was adjusting the eyepatch he had over where he lacked an eye, and he wore a suit that was typical of the hotel staff. Leaning against the wall, he turned his head to look at her quietly.

"Yes, Yurick." Mirania responded, giving him a light smile. "Another one."

Yurick couldn't help but grin slightly, before nodding towards the laundry bin. "I think Dagran's down there right now." He spoke up. "He can take care of him."

"Dagran's on duty this time?" She couldn't help but smile. "I think I recall seeing him flirting with our guest, here, when our guest first checked in. Am I remembering that right?"

"They were flirting, yes. If I go down there later to check on them, it makes me wonder what kind of things I'll hear from them." Yurick responded. He looked to the clock, then to her. "I shouldn't keep you waiting. I'll get Syrenne to help clean the place—that is, if she isn't up to her usual antics again. You go ahead and bring our guest to Dagran. I'll even report to the owner, too. He'll be pleased."

Mirania gave a nod. "Of course." She waved a little at him. "See you later, Yurick."

Yurick gave her a nod. "Later, Mirania." He turned, walking down the hall.

Mirania, meanwhile, looked down at the laundry cart. She lifted the blanket a bit, to take a close look at the older man in there. He looked so restless, even in slumber...but the number of injuries inflicted on him was quite a lot. He might even need some...parts...replaced.

Mirania let a giggle escape her, lowering the blanket before grabbing the handles of the laundry cart.

"You're one lucky guest." She whispered, before pushing the cart down the hall, starting to hum a happy tune again despite the bloodied sheets and bloodied guest in it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

* * *

The main hall of the Echo Hotel glimmered, spick and span, completely clean. Not one piece of furniture was out of place, and the chandeliers hanging from the high, high ceilings lit up the room with a delicate, welcoming glow.

For some reason, it felt a bit off.

Therius wasn't sure why, as soon as he walked into the building, but he just felt off. But nevertheless, he and Asthar were going to check into this hotel and solve the mystery themselves.

"Welcome to the Echo Hotel! My name is Lisa and I'll be happy to help you!" The silver-haired female receptionist flashed both Therius and Asthar a friendly, welcoming smile, looking ever so neat in her clean suit. "How may I help you both? Checking in?"

"Yes." Asthar responded, handing her the papers. "We are."

Lisa giggled, looking to the papers and then to them as she typed in a few things onto the computer in front of her. "Ah, William Asthar and Therius Hawkthorn yes? I've heard of you both before." She leaned up close, mischief playing on the edges of her smile. "Is it really true that you're investigating this place?"

Therius nodded sternly, gazing at her apathetically. "Yes." He responded. "We were given notice that recently a few people went missing. We may even have to question you if needed."

"Oh me?" Lisa pulled back, exaggerated shock on her face. "Really? I didn't do anything bad, did I?"

Therius simply shrugged. "Time will tell. May we have our keys to our room please?"

"Of course!" Lisa opened up a drawer, before handing Asthar the keys. "You're in room 665 on Floor Six. Have a nice stay!" She cheered.

Therius and Asthar thanked her before the two went over to the elevator.

"What's the best course of action?" Therius spoke up quietly, the two holding their luggage.

Asthar looked to the younger man. "We should check our own room first. Then we could take a walk around the hotel and cover what we can during the day. Then later tonight we can go out again. Check out what this place is like at night. People usually disappear during then, so we should try to stick together at all times."

"Sounds good."

As the two neared the elevator, there was another one of the hotel staff, having noticed all the luggage they were holding.

"Do you need any help with your luggage?" He spoke up. He wore an eyepatch where his right eye should have been, and he was rather somewhat short compared to the two guests. Pretty young—he couldn't be any older than twenty, surely, from what he looked like.

Asthar simply smiled, shaking his head. "No, we'll be fine, thank you. We're just on our way to our room now."

"I see." Therius caught the nametag of hte employee—Yurick was his name. "Well, I do hope you enjoy your stay. Here—" He gave them both tags, a slight grin on his face. "I've been counting—you both are the tenth group of guests that checked in this month, so you both get a free pass to access the VIP section of the bar we have on our second floor during your stay! Just show these tags at the entrance and you'll be let in. They last for the entire duration of your stay."

Therius nodded, looking at the VIP tag he held. "Thank you." He spoke up.

Yurick simply smiled. "You're welcome. Have a wonderful stay here!"

Therius and Asthar went into the elevator, Asthar pressing the button on the control panel to go to floor six. As the elevator doors closed and the elevator started going up, both looked to each other.

"Friendly, aren't they?" Asthar noted.

Therius nodded. "Yes. It's almost unnerving."

* * *

 _"He's waking up."_

 _"...Let me talk to him, Mirania, I can..."_

 _"...I'll go clean those stained..."_

 _"Okay. See you later."_

 _"See you later—make sure to be good to him, okay?"_

 _"Of course. I like him. Of course I'd be good to him, Mirania."_

Arganan regained his vision slowly, as well as the rest of his senses. What was going on? Where was he? What...happened?

Pain seared through his left shoulder moments afterward and a choked cry escaped his lips. Jolting from his current position from the pain (he was laying on his back, on a...a table?) his left leg lit on _fire_ and he whimpered, wishing to move his right hand to feel where it hurt, to sit up and gaze at himself. But he couldn't—as far as he could figure out from attempting to test said limbs, his right ankle and wrist were tied down.

And...why did the left side of his face feel so _numb?_ He could barely move his lips because of the numbness. It was strange and throbbing and _wrong_ and _he shouldn't be here._

"So, Lucius..."

A younger man's face _(Arganan remembered flirting with him earlier—his name was Dagran, right?)_ came into his field of vision, a firm look on his face as if examining a lab specimen. A smile crept its way to his lips as he continued to gaze at him.

"You're awake. Good." Dagran chuckled slightly at this, and he laid a hand over the left side of Arganan's face. The older man gasped as the throbbing in the left side of his face became stronger, and Dagran blinked, pulling his hand away. "Ah. Sorry. I haven't given you all the painkillers yet. You woke up a little _earlier_ than I thought. I was busy patching you up so much that I guess I forgot to administer more of the morphine."

Hearing the older man simply try to speak, voice coming out in another weak whimper, Dagran sighed and took Arganan's right hand in his. "Try to squeeze my hand—once for yes, and twice for no. I think it'd be better than trying to speak right now. Can you do that?"

 _One_ squeeze.

Arganan gazed up at Dagran, fear too obvious in his gaze as it mixed with pure confusion. Dagran simply used his other hand to run his fingers through the older man's lovely tresses of hair, free of bloodstains thanks to Mirania earlier.

"You see," Dagran started, gazing gently at the older man (he really was handsome for his age) as he continued to stroke his hair, "The hotel's been running for years. About _fifty_ years now, I think. We have to get new employees sometime, or else people start getting suspicious and the next thing we know there are weird investigators on the case, poking around and stuff. The thing is, the owner of the hotel wants specific people—not just anyone can join the staff, as you may have noticed. The owner wants people that he likes. So sometimes potential recruits get used for, erm," Dagran paused to search for an appropriate word, _"Other_ causes."

A near-strangled, panicked whimper escaped Arganan, but Dagran continued to stroke his hair, hoping to calm him.

"It's okay, Lucius." Dagran couldn't help but flash him a grin— "You passed with flying colours. You're going to be one of the staff. One of _us_ —once I get you fixed up and adjusted to things that is. I'll find a proper role for you somehow."

He looked to Lucius' left limbs and winced, seeing his own handiwork. "The Twins did a number on you, so I had to amputate some limbs. I got replacements though. They're not the same, I get it, but at least you can walk and have two arms, right?" He chuckled a little at that, before looking to Arganan. The older man fell silent but he still looked scared, still looked panicked. It was normal. All the possible recruits always were a bit frazzled in the beginning after all.

He stroked Arganan's hair a little more, before speaking up again.

"Do you understanding everything?"

 _Two_ squeezes.

Dagran frowned. He thought he was clear enough. Then again, Arganan was still on some painkillers and probably still in a lot of pain after the operation Dagran had to give him. That was probably affecting him to some degree.

"Don't worry." Dagran managed. He knew that Arganan must find it hard to worry, probably confused all over, but he'd find a way to get used to it or die trying. "I'll do my best to help you get the hand of things. Maybe it's just better if you rest, you know? Close your eyes for a while—it'll help you heal up."

Without another word, he administered a needle full of morphine, injecting it into Arganan's right wrist. The older man whimpered once, weakly squeezing Dagran's hand one more time before his grip went slack, his good eye closing shut. Dagran quietly ran a hand over Arganan's face, before discarding the needle in a nearby trash can.

A chuckle escaped him, looking to Arganan.

"You're really lucky, you know." He whispered softly, taking a deep breath. "And you've got me, too."

He leaned forwards, giving the older man a kiss on the forehead, a soft chuckle escaping him one more time.

"You're very, _very_ lucky, Lucius. Just you wait and see."


End file.
